At check-in, my luggage is still 5kg over the 20kg limit. After transferring some books to my carry on, the assistant lets me check-in with 22kg, another example of a more common sense application of rules that Kiwis seem to apply. If I wasn’t meeting friends over there, I am not sure if I would be looking forward to going back to Australia. I will certainly miss New Zealand, my favourite country so far.
I am still nervous about flying, and am a little hungover from last night, though I learned from my flight to NZ that this wasn’t the best condition for me to be in advance of flying. Though it turns out to be eventless, I am sweaty palmed throughout the flight.
My plan had been to meet up with Janaya, formerly a bar girl at my local pub in Reading. However, I have been unable to get hold of her, so I decide to follow Mary and Caz to Byron Bay, which I wanted to visit anyway.
Still somewhat geographically ignorant of Australia, I had assumed that Byron Bay was on the Gold Coast. For some reason, it is denied the status, being just a wee bit south of it. I have decided that this is a good thing because the leaflets for Gold Coast attractions at the airport information desk are mostly focused on party hardy yoof, which is not what I am looking for right now.
Going through immigration, I am politely pulled aside for a one on one interview with a senior officer who asks me questions about what I have been doing in the countries I have visited over the past nine months. He says that he has a list of countries which bring up a red flag where travellers coming to Australia are concerned, and I have been through most of them.
We go to the Backpackers Inn on the Beach at Byron Bay. I have grown weary of hostel living because, well, I seem too old, but this place has a relaxed feel to it and the beach is just a few steps through greenery away. It also offers free body board hire, so I take one onto the beach, though don’t make use of it. We are on Belongil Beach, the northern beach of Byron, but it is not the best one for waves. It does, however, have a wide selection of young and beautiful bodies on display, and it is not too busy either. I am not sure I belong here though.
I meet up again with Caz and Mary to go to dinner at Fishheads Restaurant by the main beach. I have been told that this is a fantastic fish restaurant, but it turns out to do a nice thick and juicy steak too, as this is what I order. I did have a tuna dish for starter though, and I guess it’s a kind of sushi as it is raw, though not flavoured with wasabi or any Japanese flavourings. It is also quite possibly the best tuna I have ever tasted. Though the food is quite expensive – Caz and Mary order Fish & Chips, at Aus $25 the cheapest thing on the menu – but it’s also a BYO wine, so it works out to be good value for the quality.
Our waitress is an attractive young American female and, when the bill arrives with a space to leave comments, I leave her my phone number, feeling unrealistically optimistic after having a few glasses of wine.
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